Swim.Bike.Run.Check the Weather and Repeat.: Legit Quits- CDA 70.3

Lake CDA, seriously sad to see the full iron distance go on this one.

When an athlete has a bad race they usually spend alot of time reflecting. Indeed bad races are not just part of the process, but they also help to build you as an athlete. Most of the time you have permission to cry and sulk for about 24-48 hrs but then after that its time to move on. During my reflections, I have been doing a little reading: Mainly, Lesley Patersons new book The Brave Athlete, and Grit by Angela Duckworth. I 100% believe that to become resilient as an athlete in our sport you must learn to deal with adversity. Its truly in your mind how you deal with the problems the day can throw at you and how you attempt to deal with it can seriously change your day.

Lake life

One of the Chapters in Lesleys book talks about "shit quiting" and "legit quiting". The difference between these two almost always likely comes during the reflection phase. Shit quiting would equate to "oh my stomach hurts and I cant hit my pace so I will stop". This usually equates to the "what if's?" feelings post race and feelings of depression. Legit quiting would refer to when you are about to injure yourself or die so you should probably stop. You dont tend to have emotions wrapped up with these. I had the wonderful experience of going through both phases during my race in Coeur d'Alene on Sunday. In all honestly I was actually having a great race and both physically and mentally I was dealing with adversity well (which is something I have been really trying to work on).

Taking a moment to calm myself Pre swim.

The swim was a cool 64 degrees so I wore my Blueseventy Helix with my nero race tint goggles. I always wipe my goggles down with SBR sports tri Foggies so I have crystal clear vision. The waters were calm, but the swim ended up being long. I exited the water in 7th position and off to the bike we went. I rode my Quintana Roo PR6 with 3-4 girls who came out of the water near me and we were taking turns leading the way. Eventually around mile 10 I decided to make a pass and did not pass fast enough (you have 25 seconds to pass) because I was on a hill climbing so my speed slowed a bit which I did not take into account. I made the pass and went to the front, and I also honestly thought they would not penalize me since I was climbing, but sure enough the moto bike came up to me and handed me the blue card (5 min penalty). UH. This was adversity #1. The girl who I passed, repassed me down the road and told me to shake it off because she too knew that was not fair. I rode HARD until mile 30 where the penalty tent was. I was holding my position and at one point even road up into 5th place. I was feeling optimistic. But of course, theres nothing like sitting in a tent for 5 minutes and seeing every girl go by to take it out of you.

Never quiting and heading into T2

This was adversity #2. I knew that this is where it would become mental. You could easily quit knowing you are out of the race, but I choose to stay in the game. Ride hard and just do what you can. I was feeling better then I have ever felt in a half so why not. Then adversity #3 hit, literally.
If you did not see my quick race summary, I was stung by a wasp on the bike at mile 45 and eventually had a reaction causing myself to drop out due to not being able to breathe (seriously what the hell luck is that?). Even when the wasp stung me I made the mental decision to just keep going even if I was not at the pace I wanted. My coach said when I found him at mile 6 of the run I was about to hyperventilate because I was wheezing so bad. My power file even dropped off by 40 watts as soon as the stung happened (I was descending very fast when it stung me and was almost like a rock to my chest). This is called a Legit Quit and I have no feelings associated with it because I know it was the right thing. As much as a DNF stings, I have moved on very quickly and am focused on my prized goal in Canada in just one month. I took my 24 hrs of sulking (really just looking at how well I was racing and realizing what the day could have been) and turned it into a wonderful rest of the week in Idaho.

TriSports Teammate Christine has a great race!

I was lucky to share a week on the lake with my Coach David, his wife, and my teammates Christine, Amanda, Sue, and James. We got some good training in, ate lots of food, swam in the wonderful lake and got my mind set for my final push into ironman. I am super excited to race again on July 30. O-CANADA!