Dont sell yourself short

The past two weekends I raced at home (Shadowcreek Ranch Triathlon) and in Kansas for the 5150 event. With Kansas the ultimate "A-race" right around the corner, Shadowcreek was treated as a "train- through" race. Though, it was just a sprint, it was more like the sprint championships of the south. All the fast girlies came to battle and like a sprint says in its name-- IT HURT!! I exited the water second, rode hard but noticed my power was kind of low and then seriously hung on in the run for 5th place and the last paycheck of the day. I was happy with my performance given the solid training week I had just came from. I still had one lingering piece of concern in my head....

I reached out to Adrienne Langelier, a local sports psychologist  to see if she could meet up the week leading into Kansas. (http://www.langelierspc.org/Adrienne_Langelier_Sport_Psychology/Home.html)
After an all-time slow run in Philly a month before, not running as many miles as I used to due the injury that occurred last winter,  and feeling somewhat like I was under performing, I knew I needed to attack my mental attitude. This year I have been hugely struggling with running, which as the majority of you know, used to my "secret weapon". I somehow attached alot of negative thoughts to running and the fact that it did not come easy like it used to. I  needed to remind myself that in the last 2 months of training, no matter how hard I felt running was, I still managed to hit my paces during training and remember that I was fully capable of running just as fast I used to. The thing that needed to change was my mindset. After talking about the situation, at the end of the session,  Adrienne had me write 5 things on a piece of paper that I could use to help focus on during the race if I began to get any of those negative thoughts. I am not going to tell you my *five* but lets just say it worked...

Kansas 5150
I chose this race because I had heard fantastic things about the 70.3 race that happens on the same course. One of my coaches athletes, Caitlin, was also doing the race so this meant I had a travel buddy and someone to share the course and awesome little town with. I arrived in Kansas on Friday morning pretty early. Upon picking up my bike box it was not even closed and the case was severely damaged.  I travel with my bike alot so I have learned to remain calm in situations like this. I reported it at claims and opened it up to see that luckily nothing on my bike was damaged. Then I went to go get my rental car to find that they had a FIAT reserved for me. How the hell do I get a bike box in that??? Laughing, because it was almost ironic, I paid the extra fee to upgrade my car to something bigger and then headed my way over to Lawrence, KS. It was only noon but I figured it couldnt hurt to check with my hotel and see if my room was ready. SCORE, finally something gone right and I got into my room, took a nap, put the bike together and kicked back for the afternoon. Friday evening, Caitlin arrived and we walked around the downtown area and found a great burger place to eat. It was honestly, the best burger I have had in a long time! There was seriously so many cool restaurants in this town, we knew we would have some good eats throughout the weekend!

Saturday morning was the typical pre-race s/b/r and legs were feeling nice and refreshed. Usually, I feel kind of stale after an off day, but today I was feeling very rested and good. Of course, the 60 degree weather could have helped. My bike was rolling good and I knew the hills would make for a challenging bike course. The swim was unexpectedly choppy so I knew I had to get my game face on in order to not get swept away. We ate dinner and I was no joke asleep by 7pm. So tired!

Race Day!
Upon entering transition we couldnt help but notice these fly/moth/bugs, EVERyWHERE. It was insane!! We all kind of joked that they might be in our shoes or that we might want to mount with our mouths closed. They looked like this: x1billion. It was gross!!

After setting up the bike, a quick run, and a few minutes with the bands to get the arms ready, a couple of us walked over to the swim area to get a quick warmup in. We were greeted by a thousand of those bugs ALL IN THE WATER!! A few screams and jumps later we were in the water, only to almost swallow a few bugs and I just couldnt wait to get out of the water. It was comical and So nasty!
Anyways, the Swim: We took off at our usual race pace and immediately settled in. I noticed I was feeling pretty good and not gasping for air like usual. So this is what it feels like to be rested for a race!!? Or am I not going hard enough ? :)  It immediately reminded me of how crappy I felt at philly and the big hole that I was in from all that summer traveling! The water was choppy but I dealt with it the best I ever have. Usually, I fall apart in choppy swims but I remembered what coach Tim Floyd told me-- Tempo up. I kept the arms flying and constantly kept reminding myself of this. I thank Magnolia Masters immensely for being able to adapt to these "rough-like" water conditions. Swimming with the gang day-in and day-out has certainly made a change in how I mentally approach swims like this. I didnt have my best swim, but like I said it was a step in the right direction, I exited the water with 2 girls in my vision and a few behind me right around 22 minutes.
I mounted as quick as possible up the steep hill and it took about the first 2-3 miles to really settle in and get comfortable. I focused on controlling my power and not worrying about speed. I knew that this would set me up for the best possible legs to run on. I rode hard and steady and at the turn around I could see that all the girls were relatively close. I loved that I was in the race and I could see everyone battling. It was just then that I began to feel "comfortable" and relaxed. The girls all held their positions on the bike and we all entered T2 together taking note that the bike was a mile long which added a few minutes to our times. I felt good about my bike, but couldnt help but wonder if I didnt push hard enough. I held my power like I was supposed to but felt like maybe I should of pushed just slightly harder. Either way, one of my main goals of the race was the run!
And on to the run I went. Right up the hill we started to bike on and into the one and only big hill on the course. I stayed relaxed and focused. I used one of my new running goals to zone in and stay positive. Once I hit mile 2 I was right on pace. The course was a two loop course so around mile 4 and after the hill part 2,  I knew I was ready to pick the pace up. My Coach always mentions its better to "run on" then "hang on", and for the first time this year I was ready to run on! Negative splitting the last part of my run and entering the shoot with a 39:55 run split. Finally! My running legs were back!! Honestly, they were probably there the whole year but it was my mind that was stopping them.

I needed to pass this little mental barrier to add confidence back into my running and triathlon racing in general. The main goal of this blog other than a race report is too remind YOU to never Sell yourself short. It takes both physical and mental aptitude to succeed. You have to be willing to go to your hurt zone and simply just be OK with it. You have to believe. You have to be confident. Ask yourself, What do you usually do when you start to feel pain in a race (or training?)? What are some things you can do to overcome this? Staying positive and in tune with your body will certainly lead you in the right direction! Good luck and thanks for reading!

As always BIG THANK YOUS to all my sponsors. Aussie Cycle Works, Bay Area Schwinn, Coaches David and Tim, OutRival Racing, Boundless Nutrition, Cobb Cycling, Powerbar, Blueseventy swim, Third Coast Training, C.Fosters & Sterling Ridge Orthopedics.