So Your Race Sucked…Now What?
This situation can be even more painful for a half or full marathon/ Ironman due to the amount of time and money invested to even just get to the starting line.
When the results turn out terrible, it’s time to take a real hard look at your training log over the previous 5-6 months leading up to the race. Now sometimes there are situations that are out of your control, like tacks on the road, bad weather etc. But you can usually prevent most of your races from going south.
You need to look and be honest with yourself. Did you really put in the volume and intensity that your training program called for?
Did you do those hard intervals that your coach had in your Training Peaks?
Did you hit the minimums for long course racing that include 3 swims, 3 bikes, 4 runs and 2 strength sessions per week?
Did you train on similar terrain and conditions to your race? Long course racing is no joke, and it’s hard for me to see my own athletes struggle on course as I watch my IM Tracker.
Did you Dial in your nutrition for success on the day no matter what the conditions are?
My goal as a coach is to actually make training a little bit harder than the race will be so that you can handle all the race day stress and logistics; saying to yourself, “So that’s why she made me do all those bridge repeats, etc.”
It takes a lot of mental and physical fortitude to toe the line at a triathlon (long course and short course) believe it or not.
You hear people talk about it like its no big deal. But, not everyone comes out of the womb swimming, biking and running!
If you have not been challenged and had to work hard to overcome set backs in your training, success on race day is unlikely.
It’s really all about the journey and race day is the test. Did you do your homework? Most of the time all the reasons why your race sucked are right there in the training log, where you skipped that swim, bike, or run. Decided to take 10 days off instead of two, eat pizza and drink beer.
If you made the commitment to sign up for the marathon or triathlon race, you might as well do everything you can to get it right! Listen to your coach, follow your individual training plan designed to help you progress safely and confidently to the distance of your race. It takes time, not just a few weeks!
So now, I know you are super motivated to get it right next time!
Recover well, write out the whole painful experience, so you can look back before your next race and remember not to let that happen again!!!!
If you are looking for help avoiding another terrible race result, Let’s Talk about how I can design a plan specific to you to dial in your best performance on the day!
Use tis link to set up a call with me now!
Happy Training and Racing!!!
Wishing you well,
Coach Erinne
If you can relate in any way, I invite you to schedule a Triathlon Breakthrough session with me where you get 30 minutes to ask me anything about triathlons, nutrition, and training!
Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997. She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Mom and much much more.
