Wildflower Pt. 2: The Gory Details
The results page is currently a bit convoluted, times are all up there but it took some craftiness and persistence to deduce my overall results.
Swim: 39:39
Bike: 2:49:47
Run: 1:39:30
Total race time: 5:13:27
This put me in 4th for my age group and 9th overall. I don't know how many racers there were.
Anyhow let's start with the bad... I am capable of much better, not just in theory but really on Saturday I had the physical ability to go faster, particularly in the swim and the bike. I am not happy with my mental toughness because even though I pushed myself, I raced with fear and self-doubt in my head. I should not be handicapping myself in that way (don't need my mind to be a liability in addition to my swim!). I know that the mental side is the hardest, anyone can go out and train like mad but putting it all together come race day and really leaving everything out on the course is another thing entirely.
On the plus side though, I know I have improved a lot. My times were all better than my Silverman times, and both are hard courses. I am really pleased that I did not have a single panic attack during the swim, which is a major step up from my previous 3 races. On the bike I learned a lot about pacing and being too conservative. And on the run, I felt great for the last 6 or 7 miles and found myself smiling a lot. I had fun.
So now I am resting up and thinking a lot about the mental side of the sport in preparation for my upcoming races! Also if anyone wants to come hang out and keep me company up here in Tahoe please let me know. Kitty and I are running out of conversation topics, although he is being a very perfect furry companion by sitting with me wherever I am and letting me hug him and squeeze him and he's purring and generally being cute. He likes me.
Swim: 39:39
Bike: 2:49:47
Run: 1:39:30
Total race time: 5:13:27
This put me in 4th for my age group and 9th overall. I don't know how many racers there were.
Anyhow let's start with the bad... I am capable of much better, not just in theory but really on Saturday I had the physical ability to go faster, particularly in the swim and the bike. I am not happy with my mental toughness because even though I pushed myself, I raced with fear and self-doubt in my head. I should not be handicapping myself in that way (don't need my mind to be a liability in addition to my swim!). I know that the mental side is the hardest, anyone can go out and train like mad but putting it all together come race day and really leaving everything out on the course is another thing entirely.
On the plus side though, I know I have improved a lot. My times were all better than my Silverman times, and both are hard courses. I am really pleased that I did not have a single panic attack during the swim, which is a major step up from my previous 3 races. On the bike I learned a lot about pacing and being too conservative. And on the run, I felt great for the last 6 or 7 miles and found myself smiling a lot. I had fun.
So now I am resting up and thinking a lot about the mental side of the sport in preparation for my upcoming races! Also if anyone wants to come hang out and keep me company up here in Tahoe please let me know. Kitty and I are running out of conversation topics, although he is being a very perfect furry companion by sitting with me wherever I am and letting me hug him and squeeze him and he's purring and generally being cute. He likes me.
Labels: enjoy the blog, racing, wildflower
posted by Courtenay at 5/05/2008
10 Comments:
For your first 1/2 IM of the year - this is NOT bad. If anything, it teaches you more about yourself as a racer. I really am a BIG believer in the mental aspect/mental toughness of the sport. Like in the movie "What it takes" - you line up 20 or 50 of the top male professionals at Hawaii - and they've ALL done the training and have the fitness to be there. It's the mental game - and a big chunk of heart - that get them across that finish line in the spot they want.
Kudos on the swim - that CAN be nightmarish.... how did the nutrition go? Time to get a little aggressive on the course. I always listen to Korn before I race - something about getting FIRED UP! that really helps.
Tabbitha would curl up with you and Charlie if she could. She would behave herself and not even attack.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention nutrition! It went fine. I could have probably used 3 or 4 more salt pills, that's the amount that fell out of my pocket, but really it was fine. I had 9 gels, 50 oz of sports drink and ~10 oz of water on the bike, and water and sports drink at every aid station on the run. The race did a great job with aid stations.
Good point about being fired up. I do not recall being fired up on Saturday. Although I did get annoyed and angry so perhaps that's a start ;)
Wow, Court, you seriously KICKED ASS!!!
That is SO AWESOME!!!
I know you felt like you could've done more, but that's also part of racing - learning more about yourself and figuring out how to do it better next time.
You still kicked ass on a really tough race. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW THIS SEASON GOES FOR YOU!!!!
As for visiting, I'd come up next weekend but it's Mother's Day. When do you fly back east?
Great job, Courtenay! 9th OA is awesome and I'm sure it'll leave you hungry for much more this season. Good luck at your next 1/2 IM in June!
id come hang out but i wont be back to that coast until june 7th. i wish someone would come hang out wth me or betteryet write my papers!!!
Wow Courtenay, awesome work! You are going to get even faster soon. Once you put it all together, like you said. Thank you for the sweet comments. You are so cute - loved it when you surprised me when I was setting up my transition. What a great surprise! Let's chat even more at the next race we do together. Congrats on a solid day!
XO,
E
congratulations! I think the last six miles of the run was awesome because I ran with you and got you all excited. maybe not, but I'd like to think so.
YEAH COURTENAY!! We all love you!
XXXOOO
Good job out there. Confidence comes with experience, so cut yourself some slack for not getting everything perfect right away. Each time out, you'll get a better sense of what you're capable of, what to expect and where you can take chances.
The biggest thing with mental toughness is shaking off the things you can't control and focusing on what you can. For example, if I make a navigational error on the swim, I just fix it and don't give it another thought until the race is over. Then I plan ways to address the problem in the next round of training and preparation. Same goes for any error or unforeseen obstacle in a race-- and there are an infinite number of those things.
At Silverman, I came in off the bike a bit bonky. Not great, but no reason to panic. Just take some Cliff Bloks and when that didn't work, resort to Coke and keep going. Did that result in the fastest run I could possibly pull off? Probably not, but I couldn't go back and change history, so I just fixed what I could and kept going.
So that's the deal. Crap happens in races. You can count on that. Just deal and move on. No drama. That's mental toughness in a nutshell and I'm sure you've got plenty of it.
Nice job. I think you smoked my 70.3 time, including the swim, so we're 1:1 assuming that we're not weighting races by distance. You'll get more experience with the mental aspect by racing more - so that will come. Do more sprints and it will get easier. You always have to trust your training and also know that everyone else out there is thinking the same exact thing. You also got out without any injuries, mental scars and none of your equipment was lost or damaged. Not having a panic attack in the swim is huge. I can't wait for my next one in a week.
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