In The 6th Discipline Post, I mentioned that
little voice inside our head and visualization while training and racing. As I trained almost all of my workouts in the
dungeon that is my basement, on the trainer/treadmill, and swam watching that
straight black line for hours…….I thought……a lot. We focus so much on the training. Am I getting faster? Did I push hard enough? What was my heart rate? But as I tried to find my mental strength in
that basement, I had to find things to
focus on to work on that mental strength.
Anyone who has ever done an IM can tell you, that if you show up 100%
physically ready and not mentally prepared, the day will eat you alive. I just talked with my coach this week for a
little mojo boost going into race week and he reminded me that all that mental
work I put in will serve me well on race day.
So I thought I would pass some of those deep thoughts along to you and
encourage you, if you are short on time, to cut that next main training set
short in order to get in one of these ‘workouts. I do think that ‘training’ that mental
strategy needs to be integrated into training in order for athletes to be as
successful as they can be. We all know
the elite athletes do visualization of their sport – if it’s helps them be the
best – it surely can help us.
Flawless execution of the basics – Before $XX,000 bike that is 100 gms lighter
than your other one, before $X,000 wheels, before extra light race tubes; If
you don’t have the basics down – swim race start technique (Do you know what it
feels like to sprint for 400m and then ‘settle in’ to a swim?), racing the ride
(Do you let your heart rate go all over the place because you are focused on
your speed and the other athletes passing you or are you staying steady, strong
and focused on your level heart rate, getting in perfect hydration and
nutrition?), being patient on the run (Do you stay patient on the front end of
the run so you can crush the end of the race or do you rush to the end, only to
end up walking? Did you not practice
your nutrition in training and end up spending more time in the porta
potty?) If you don’t have the basics
down, the oober light equipment and the unrealistic pace goals you set for
yourself will be of little help.
Focus on the process not the outcome – If your race
time is the only measure of success for you on race day, you could end up
sorely disappointed. Did you really do
all those months of training to only have a moment of happiness on race day? I really hope not, because that was a lot of
time away from family and friends for just a few moments. The training IS the process. Race Day should be a CELEBRATION of all the
hard work put in. It’s the part we love
(don’t we???). It’s why we get up at
4:00AM. This also applies to training. Not every day is our best day. My swim this morning was crap – but I had a
terrible night’s sleep (well, my kiddo had a terrible night sleep ergo…..) – so
it was expected. I also had a run set
directly after my swim that I crushed because I was able to forget about my run
in the locker room and reset my mind for my 2 x 1 mile sets.
Commit to the plan and process - When training for an Ironman, you could be
training anywhere from 12-24 weeks. In
reality, we sign up a year in advance to make sure we get a spot and start our
training then. So make a plan, commit to
it, believe in it, and execute. When it
comes to looking back at your training and racing, if you are trying to learn
from mistakes, but didn’t follow a set plan, how will you know what to fix next
time? If you don’t like your plan, or
not quite sure if it’s right for you, ask someone. Hire a coach.
We spend all this money on equipment, race entry and travel and then
skimp on having a coach along with us for the journey. I have a friend (you know who you are K :)) who struggles with
sticking to a plan because she loves to be informed and take bits and pieces
from plans that ‘fit’ her. And every
season I try to encourage her to just stay the course, and in the end, there
are just too many variables to make progress efficient…….she’ll start listening
someday (you know I love you!!). I
started as an Endurance Nation Athlete this year. It was a much different process than I had
done before, and certainly for IM training.
For my previous IM I did a 24 week, high volume training plan. This plan was a 12-wk plan with only 1 long
ride each week. BUT I bought in 12
months before and worked on getting faster during summer race season. I worked my tiny booty off during the
outseason, only did 5 workouts/week and made them count. I didn’t swim for 14 weeks during outseason
(and I wasn’t one ounce slower when I started my 12 week IM training btw – I
was iffy about this – but how do you know unless you do it??) And I said ‘”OK” to only 12-weeks of training
and to a lower volume at that while my counter parts were putting in 10+ more
hours than I was. We’ll see what worked
and what didn’t…..
Focus on what you are doing NOW – During training,
make a focus. What is your workout
today? What are your goals? Make the
most of it. On race day – did you have a
bad swim? – forget about it – get to the bike.
Are people passing you like crazy?
Hmmmm most likely you will see them on the run when they are walking and
you’re running because you didn’t use up all your effort on the bike. Are you H-U-R-T-I-N-G?? Are you barely making it from tree to
tree? Focus on your stride length. Count to 100.
Focus on 5ft in front of you.
Focus on knee drive. Oh next aid
station is already here? AWESOME. Focus on your stride length. Count to 100…..you get the idea. Focus on the task at hand and do whatever you
need to do to put one foot in front of the other. You can do it. And if you can’t your body will collapse :) You’re mind will give you EVERY excuse to
quit, you have to shut that off, and figure out a way to get it done.
It takes patience and discipline to GO SLOW – It
seems counter intuitive, but it’s so much easier to do a VO2 max set than it is
a slow Z1 run. Both are necessary in
training -Both deserve the same amount of focus - Because on race day - When
you get on that bike and people are blazing by you, you MUST KNOW what it feels
like to go slow. You must know what that
‘I could do this forever as long as someone gave me food and drink’ pace is on
the bike and the run. This is the
hardest of all for me. Not in training,
but in racing. I get anxious on the
start of that run. I’m not ‘fast’ really
at any of the disciplines, but at an IM distance, if I can just not slow down
over the course of those 26.2 miles, and keep inching up my speed on that run
(like I have done for 100s of miles on that stinking treadmill), I will start
pegging off my competition like there is no tomorrow.
Visualize your BEST and your WORST day - Every morning when I do my breathing exercises, I think through different parts of my race day. Being calm on race morning. Visualizing each leg of the race - including transitions - and telling myself how strong and fast I am. As my coach reminded me, it's also important to visualize the 'hiccups' that could happen on race day. Race day never goes as planned. At some point you fall apart; You have someone grab your ankle and use you as momentum - do you let it rile you up, or 'just keep swimming'? You drop a nutrition bottle - do you stop and pick it up? If not, or you're simply unable to logistically, what is your alternate course of action? Your bike explodes (or some version :) ) - Do you freak out and quit? Or do you take the opportunity to slow down for a sec, get some food in, stretch out your back, and get to the business of fixing your bike. Do you feel tummy troubles coming on? - Do you just ignore it, it gets worse and you end up passing out in the porta potty? or do you slow down, stop the nutrition, get your tummy right and re-start your run plan.
Just in case I don’t get in another post before we depart on
our long journey. THANK YOU. Thank you to the 5 people who read this post
and make me feel like I’m putting smiles on faces. Thank you to all my friends who have
supported me through this indoor training.
Thank you to all my family who think I’m crazy, but support me
anyway. Thank you to my Endurance Nation
Family. Being a part of the EN team and
family has been awesome – I’m not sure how I would have done this without their
help and support. That community is an
awesome place, and I’m happy and proud to be a part of it. And of course, to my ‘One Thing’. Even though there are two of you, There is no T without you. Thank you for watching T every morning while
I got up at 4AM and high fived you in the kitchen when I was done and you had to go
to work. Thank you for taking T all day
Saturday while I slaved away on that beloved trainer. Thank you for all your inspirational messages
on the white board that I stared (and cried) at during my runs. Thank you for coming down to the dungeon and
teaching T “GO MOMMY GO”. Thank you for
being willing to embark on this unbelievable journey. Your love and support will be what carries me
through that finish line and gets me from tree to tree. I apologize in advance for any impossibleness
I convey during our trip half way around the world. I love you.
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