If you're not at the top of triathlon world, it is a very hard (and sometimes stupid) sport to be a professional in. We are all looking for that one break through race that will land us a cover, interview, and a bonus structure!. We train the hardest and make too many sacrifices for all the times we come home empty handed after races. But, the friends and sponsors you make along the way and stories you come home with are priceless!
The past three races for me have been very tough to swallow considering how well my training has been going. In this sport, success is really depended on how well you handle defeat/failure. If you can't pick yourself back up, your done with. So I thought I would share with you how I analyze a race that has gone poorly. It was taught to me from a wise man in Auckland, New Zealand.
Four things can cause a bad race.
1. Training Error
2. Racing Error
3. Bad luck
4. Confidence
I will look very deeply into every aspect I can within the four categories and try and figure out what went wrong. I have figured out what my issues are and have slowly been working at fixing the problem. The event I raced today confirmed to me I'm on the correct path to fixing my issues.
Today I raced to second place behind Richie Cunningham. Richie is Aussie triathlete I recently met who just made the move to Austin. We talked about doing some training together. He mentioned that he might be lowering his standards by training with a Kiwi! I think the same thing could be said from my side also :)
Back to the race...I made a big error on the bike that cost me some time, but I received a big boost of confidence from my overall result that was much needed. I managed to kick out a 10km in the 32 min range that really let me know my training has not been for nothing. Richie was the strongest man of the day, so congrats to him.
So instead of going home and sulking after a bad race (like I used to), go and figure out what caused your bad race, because who knows...you may be one race away from your break through!
Train Hard!
4 comments:
It's human nature to train to our strengths. Reverse the process and train to your weaknesses. The results will speak for themselves.
Cheers!
with Richie there will undoubtedly be lots of shenanigans (cant go into it on the blog...), but the guy can sure train hard. Cheers bud!
good attitude about it. richie is strong but there is nothing better than to line up against the best that we can. sounds cliche but it is about the journey and the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward.
take care!
kelly
Thanks for sharing. I think that the sharing helps the gormless couch people like me know better where a person is at, from his own perspective and not just from the results table. Recently I have been following Macca and Terenzo (Kiwi & can give RC a run for his money) on Twitter, and they are constantly posting updates. Of course, they always seem to be successful, but success breeds success, and if you can't beat them, join them.
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