I’m training for IMC and am supposed to have done two “training races” (one oly and one HIM) this month. The oly was a disaster, had a panic attack in the swim after my goggles got kicked off - which led to a DNF. However I decided this must have been a one off and started to look forward to my HIM this weekend. So I arrived this morning raring to go - I had a great swim and came out in about 15th place and feeling very confident with my strongest leg (the bike) to come. A quick transition and I was away. Anyway two punctures later I am walking back to transition feeling very sorry for myself.
I was planning on making this race my last before IMC, and if everything had gone to plan I would have done well in my AG and it would have been a great confidence booster. Instead I am sitting here feeling very dissapointed and frustrated. I suppose my question is - should I alter my training schedule for the last few weeks of training and try and fit some more races in? I don’t know if I would feel very confident going into the ironman after two DNFs.
Tommo that’s a bummer to hear but don’t get down. This is your first test of mental toughness. I have not done a fully IM, but I hear they are brutal to handle mentally and at times very difficult to continue. Consider this a crash course. It’s part of your training. If you’re trained, you’ll be fine. Since you know what it is like now to get kicked while you’re down, you can practice how to deal with it. Dig deep and have confidence these were flukes, which they appear to be. Relax in the water, you’ll be fine. The good news is you have all your flats out of the way now so buckle down and take the challenge. Good luck.
The goggles and the punctures are things beyond your control. You are letting your confidence be shaken by things outside your sphere of influence. Have confidence in the training and preparation you HAVE done. THAT is your bedrock for a good race. Let the race come to you rather than feeling like you are chasing some elusive goal.
Altering the training schedule: I’d schedule a sprints/oly or two as “C” races. Little or no taper. The goal would be to relax, have fun, and just let the racing groove develop. No pressure, no worries. Just a bump in the training road to IMC. With a 15th out of the water, and even a better bike, you got game. It’s all there and with a little patience it will emerge. You’ll be fine.
Yeah - shake it off. You’ve get every reason to be confident -strong swim (15th place?), apparently strong cycling leg - sh.t, you’re home free after that. Learn from what went wrong and you’ll be able to persevere next time.
Tommo, look forward to a good race my friend. Seriously. Your dues are paid in full up front. From a Karma perspective, you have a good one coming to you.
From a logical perspective, you learned a lot the hard way in your first two races. You siad it yourself, they were *training *races. You got trained the hard way. We learn from mistakes and misteps, not necessarily from a strong of successes.
What the races didn’t do for you, however, was establish a confidence base. Now you have to put that part together on your own. Look at it this way Tommo: The panic attack in the swim is over. You survivied it- good for you. Few people even have the courage to try to start an mass-start, open water swim. You did. That is a success. Also, you learned from that- I can prove it: You finished your next race swim very, very well. See, *you overcame and learned. *Nothing like adversity to give us the crash course. Well done. Give yourself credit becasue you deserve it and that will benefit you at IM. The flats were a lesson, you learned the lesson. Now, you already understand the iportance of stacking the odds in your favor for equipment preparation. What are you going to do? Inspect your equipment more carefully? Investigate strategies for reducing the likelyhood of flats (puncture resistant tires, tubes, flat repellant fluids…), learn to fix a flat faster? You will probably do all of them- because you learned…
You are a better prepared athlete from these experiences. Adversity is a good teacher. You got some important lessons. Those are the lessons that will assist you in succeeding at Ironman.
Now, remember what you learned and go and have your best race, caring the lessons with you as a strong part of your race arsenal. Good luck my friend!
It seemse to me that the business above the neck needs to catch up w/ your cardio fitness. If it were me, I would continue with the training plan, and make sure I show up fully focussed. mental training/relaxation techniques?
(unfortunately)