Making Lemonaide.....

Well,
I have to say my adventure to Couer d' Alene was just that - an adventure. A fun, "summer vacation" triathlete style. It was a great trip to a beautiful place and when I returned home from the land of potatos and huckleberrys I was surprised to be greeted with a summer rain storm. Unusual for us Santa Rosa natives but alas....my flowers are beautiful....the river wonderful to swim in, and now summer is in full swing for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

Turns out it was much like my last trip down the Ironman finish line at the 2011 IMCDA. A summer trip of sunshine turned to icy cold waters and mechanical issues on the bike on race day...but still....somehow...I managed to turn a few lemons into some pretty sweet lemonaide.  Setting not only a new PB at this distance (all while working a 55 hours a week) but running my best IM marathon to date.

So,
the big question is - how do you handle adversity?
And how do you turn things around when it appears all is not well? How do you make lemonaide out of a bag of lemons - especially for us age-group athletes - working full-time, training at 6am and 6pm, making sacrifices, doling out the hard-earned cash and time away from family...? Well, if you asked my grandma she would have told you that all smart southern girls would just add a little sugar.  :)

As a long-course triathlete...that truly makes me laugh now....as coke seems to be the magical go to juice and sugar I need when things start un-raveling. But, really - I think it is a question and game played out not only in the heart, but more importantly in the mind. Chris McCormack alludes to this in his recent book....though I hestitate to quote the man on a regular basis I have to say he is right here....there is a "defining moment" or as I've said many times to athletes I work with "the war" - the devil vs the angel. Macca makes this same reference.  Its true - there is a sort of war going on between the good and bad choices we make every day - both as adults and athletes. Are you a nice person or a rotten turd? Do you cheat on race day or race clean? Hmmm....things to ponder.

So - when it comes down to the wire - what do you do? Do you have a plan - or just "hope for the best"? As my first coach ever told me "hope is not a training plan".  Really - do you have a plan or strategy in place when your body begins to scream at you during a race? We've all experienced this - the need and urge to end the suffereing....to stop running, slow down on the bike, or just drop out of the swim?  Anything to make it stop, right?

In many cases this is also linked to other areas of our life and is indicative of how we teach and learn through sport.  This urge can also be applied to life and to what happens when things get hard with school, a job, money, a spouse, and of course with our athletic endeavors.  Do you give up? Or do you endure, embrace, and ride the tide of "discomfort". Is it worth the goal? I sure hope so if you've invested so much of your time, money, and life energy into it.

Sometimes it does feel like we are in "agony" doing these things called "endurance sports".  But as Macca and others like the great "Grip" Mark Allen used to say it is also an "opportunity" to train the mind.  To move beyond the discomfort - to endure those things worth while.  Think of it this way - were you not trained as a child to remove your hand from being too close to the fire lest it begin to burn? So, now as an athlete do you still pull away when you enter the "pain cave" and stand next to the fire? And as the heat builds (as it always does) do you have a plan to deal with it? Do learn to enjoy the "warmth of the fire" and than move on?

Again - as Mark Allen and now Macca says "its the tipping point". Do you turn away from your opponent or yourself to end the pain? Or do you see beyond it, run to it, and through it to the other side? We all know it will end eventually, the key is to remember and create "the image" in our minds that it will. To create positive cooling images or as I often tell my athletes "to insert the video tape" and see the results they desire.

Really - as Allen, Scott, Macca, my dad and others have stated over and over....this is what seperates the men from the boys. If you always take the easy road do you get the results you want? Was it really worth it to not give up and just stick it out a little longer?  These were the thoughts rolling thru my mind on race day as my body went numb in the 54 degree swim. It was again on my thoughts during the bike when stuck in my little chain ring for 80% of the ride due to a mechanical problem I finally realized - it could be worse - it could be the big chain ring. All be damned - its a hilly course and too my benefit - thank god its not IM Florida!  Than I remembered ->  "Suck it up princess" a sign my teammates and I saw on the side of the road on the run course and I had to laugh - it was true. I did need to suck it up. After all - "I CHOSE" to do this - no one is making me...and I was lucky that things were already going the way they were - after all as I learned later in the day...it could have gone much, much worse.

Hmm...miraculous how that little shift and "choice" changed my attitude and lent it self to the run of a lifetime...So next time you are faced with turning away or embracing the "discomfort" of racing that we've chosen to participate in - what will you do?? Do you have "folders in your mind" as Macca says? Have you created an image of the goal? Do you fully embrace the consequences of giving in?

Food for thought.....I'll post a more detailed race report and other thoughts to come soon.  Until than - happy racing... and good luck to all at the upcoming Kenwood 4th of July Footrace! For now I'll enjoy the tour!

JL